Tag: Miyazaki

Can you believe it?! I don’t know if I do?! Reports are going around that Studio Ghibli has re-opened its doors, started hiring a new team of animators, and will soon start working on a brand new project. It was massive, heartbreaking news a fear years ago when legendary animator Hayao Miyazaki announced his retirement (after finishing The Wind Rises in 2013) and then subsequently the studio he helped start, Studio Ghibli, decided to stop making new films and instead focus on monetizing their old filmography. In the last few years, Miyazaki kept himself busy by making an animated short film for the Ghibli Museum in Tokyo. But now the studio is back from the dead and Miyazaki has a new idea for a film, which is what this is about. ›››

“I’m a weak, used-up old man.” Another Miyazaki documentary? Why not! More the better, I say. Never-Ending Man: Hayao Miyazaki is another new documentary about the life and work of master animator & filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. A few years ago, we were treated to the wonderful documentary Kingdom of Dreams and Madness profiling Studio Ghibli and its founders. This new documentary focuses specifically on Miyazaki and also focuses on his return to animation and first experiments with CGI filmmaking. This one is also in Japanese with voice-over and subtitles in English, and will air on TV in Japan this summer, though we don’t know when it’ll show up elsewhere. Director Kaku Arakawa was asked what he had learned from Miyazaki and he said: “he made me realise that if your passions are aroused, you could do anything.” ›››

No one utilizes space, be it literal or metaphorical, quite like Miyazaki.

Director Hayao Miyazaki is a master storyteller. Films like Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, and Howl’s Moving Castle not only capture our imaginations with their beautiful artistry and attention to detail, but they also capture our attention with their subtle intellectual, political, and spiritual challenges.

The combination of all of these elements, as well as the stunning cinematography and engaging storytelling, is what sets Miyazaki apart from other directors. Perhaps one of the most interesting ways he marries all of these aspects of filmmaking is in his use of both physical and metaphysical space, something that is explored at length in this insightful video essay by Adrian Randall.